


12.8 Million Blocks Away

by OmegaVerz



Series: 12.8 Million Blocks Away Universe [2]
Category: Dream SMP - Fandom, Hermitcraft RPF
Genre: 2b2t, Alternate Universe, BAMF Grian, BAMF TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), Blood and Violence, Brotherly Bonding, Ender Grian, Fighting, Implications of death, Kinda, Mentions of Death, Mentions of SMP Earth, Mild Gore, Minecraft, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Real World Setting, Swearing, Tommy and Grian friendship pog, Watcher Charles | Grian, Winged Charles | Grian, but with minecraft mechanics, mentions of Evo SMP, mentions of Yandere High, why are their names tags smh
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-25
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-17 15:22:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,051
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28976601
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OmegaVerz/pseuds/OmegaVerz
Summary: Fighting off competitors in his Streamer and YouTuber life was the only danger TommyInnit ever considered when he committed himself to the grind. Grian only left the HermitCraft server if the Mojang staff needed his help. The two entertainers were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.OrA chaotic roleplayer and a famous builder must work together to escape the outer reaches of Minecraftia before they get caught. There are no respawns in the real world after all.
Series: 12.8 Million Blocks Away Universe [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2125422
Comments: 28
Kudos: 205





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> I've had this AU idea since August and I am finally writing about it. Here is Grian and Tommy fighting through hell to return home the book. For context, it takes place before the L'Manberg elections and right in the middle of Grian's establishment of the Upside Down in the Nether.

They lived two very different lives.

TommyInnit, a rising Gen 3 Youtuber/streamer. He primarily lives on the Dream SMP where he causes chaos among the other players.

Grian, an old yet famous Youtuber. He’s considered the “King of Building” and has an infatuation with TNT and pranks as he spreads his own form of chaos across the realm of Hermitcraft.

Both of these players should have never met. They have never had any reason to interact. But that all changed on one winter day. 

**/ / / / / / / / / /**

Now Tommy was not known for his foresight. It was no stranger to anyone when he impulsively started conflict without thinking about the consequences. But now, as Tommy stared deeply into the lava that had consumed his disc, he was really starting to regret it.

Skeppy was unconcerned, laughing amusedly as he logged off of the server before Tubbo could kill him in retribution. Tubbo scowled at the spot where Skeppy had logged off and placed down netherrack to survey the spot where the diamond hybrid had logged off, just in case, he was ballsy enough to log back on.

Tommy was unaware of all of it, as he continued to stare at the lava. His mouth opens in a small o with wide eyes. His chat was going nuts, spamming F and other joking comments. No one, not even Tubbo truly understood Tommy’s attachment to his discs, and although the Wait disc meant nothing to him in real life personally, it still hit very close to home.

Tommy closed his mouth and turned his attention to his camera. “Well… I’ll be logging off for the day chat. Go raid whoever.” Tommy slightly winced hearing how wobbly his own voice sounded as he abruptly ended his stream for the day. Tubbo turned to Tommy, clearly about to question him, but Tommy gave him no chance.

The blonde logged off of the Dream SMP and exited the portal as he entered the portal hub. He weaved through hundreds of players as he walked home. With hundreds of thousands of players constantly flowing in and out of the portal hub, Tommy did not notice a more sinister player stalk him from a distance. Nor did he notice as a group of players dispersed and begun to circle him as he walked away from the busy neighborhood and into a more secluded park.

With night falling, there was no one in the park, and Tommy had used this shortcut before to get home after spending weeks on the SMP without checking in with his parents. It should have been safe, it always has been safe. So Tommy was unprepared when a mob jumped him from the shadows. 

Tommy wasn’t completely helpless. The physically 16-year-old streamer whipped out his iron knife and lunged at one of the closer mobsters, only for another to grab his wrist and twist it. The knife clattered to the ground. Multiple players descended on his helpless form as Tommy fiercely struggled against their attack.

He managed to punch one guy and heave himself into a sitting position but just as quickly as he managed to sit back up, they knocked him back down. One of them pinned him down by his neck, causing him to struggle to breathe. During the entire scuffle, it did not occur to Tommy to try and scream until that very moment. But before he could break their ears, one of the players forced his mouth open as another poured a potion forcefully into his mouth.

Tommy accidentally swallowed in an attempt to breathe and coughed weakly as the taste of spiders and sugar covered his tastebuds. A weakness potion. He tried to lift his arm to punch the man but he could barely even struggle. He vaguely registered a man speaking as his vision warped.

“Knock him out.”

A fierce pain from the back of his head was the last thing Tommy registered before darkness embraced him.

**/ / / / / / / / / /**

It was very well known to other Hermits living in Hermitcraft that Grian lived on the server. He never left and spent his holidays and celebrations on the server instead of his family in the real world of Minecraftia. Most Hermits summed it up to bad relations, while others assumed the worse. So of course Xisuma was shocked when Grian visited his base to tell him he would be gone for a few days.

Grian laughed at Xisuma’s body language and gestured to his communicator. “Duty calls. Mojang needs my help again,” Grian remarked with a laugh. Xisuma scoffed and crossed his arms across his chest. “You don’t even go out and that’s all you’ll tell me?” Xisuma jokingly complained, earning another giggle from Grian. 

“Please, it’s probably a server owner thing. Wynncraft probably needs some sort of help that can’t be done over comms,” Grian admitted sheepishly earning a sigh from Xisuma. “I suppose, I guess I’m just a little worried for you,” the moderator admitted, earning an amused snort from Grian. “Please X, the portal hub hasn’t changed in 500 years. I’ll be fine,” Grian dragged out the fine as the server owner let out an annoyed groan.

“Okay okay, I get it. I’ll see you in a few days Grian,” Xisuma relented as Grian cheerfully waved goodbye before logging off and reappearing in the portal hub. Grian hummed a soft tune as he exited the Hermitcraft portal and scoured the sea of players.

Unlike Tommy, Grian immediately noticed when a certain group of players started following him from a distance. Grian tried to lose them by weaving through the crowd and entering and exiting different servers. Eventually, Grian gave up and simply exited the portal that led to the Mojang HQ in hopes that the people following him did not have access.

He was not so lucky and he was in a bad place to be at this time of day. Everyone had gone home and the plaza was empty except for the occasional straggler. Grian slowed down for one of his pursuers to catch up before throwing a punch. The man stumbled back in surprise as Grian launched himself with a vicious snarl. The rest of the mob circled Grian and one man raised his sword in retaliation.

Grian dodged the sloppy swing and wrestled the sword out of the man’s hand. With a yell, Grian stabbed the man, causing him to collapse with the sword in his stomach as he slowly bled out. Unfortunately, the remaining mob did not give Grian a chance to retaliate against them, and multiple men threw themselves upon the builder to pin him down. A broken arm and nose later for players from the mob, Grian was successfully pinned down. 

Just like Tommy, they forced a weakness potion down his mouth. Unlike Tommy, Grian did not swallow. Instead, Grian thrashed and kept the potion in his mouth as one player gripped his jaw and tilted his head up to get him to swallow. Grian stubbornly refused. The leader of the little group crouched down to Grian’s level, ignoring Grian’s fiery glare.

“Either you swallow that potion or we kill you and go after Mumbo. He’s right next to you in fame isn’t he?”

Grian thrashed one last time and with a fierce, unwavering glare that promised pain, he swallowed the potion. The effects were immediate. Grian sluggishly shook his head as he tried to pull his arm free. No one in the group needed prodding to knock Grian in the back of the head to get him unconscious.

**/ / / / / / / / / /**

The only evidence the world had of TommyInnit's and Grian's disappearance was a lone knife in the grass of a park and the unidentifiable corpse of a man in the Mojang Plaza. Friends and family grieved as search parties were sent all across the Inner Square. 

Unfortunately for the search parties, Tommy and Grian were way past the Wall and the case went cold.

Unfortunately for both Tommy and Grian, only one of them was needed. The faction had staked out for weeks in hopes to grab one of them to make a hefty profit. What was done was done, and when the two groups produced their accomplishments to their leader, they were forced to keep both of them, despite the complications that arose because of it.

Unfortunately for the faction that had kidnapped them, they had housed a very vengeful builder and a pissed off child together, in the same cell.

Oh boy, there be hell to pay for the faction that had captured them.

  
  



	2. Tongue Tied

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tommy is an idiot, and Grian is already tired of his shit. Luckily for both of them, they get along... kind of.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning of minor torture and descriptions of blood. Read at your own risk.

It was cold. That was the first thing TommyInnit registered when he first regained consciousness. His back hurt from the hard ground he had fallen asleep on. Did he pass out in a cave? For some reason, he felt very groggy and his thoughts seemed to swirl around his head. He tried to sit up but couldn’t move his body. 

The second time he regained consciousness, he could move his fingers. He grit his teeth and weakly forced himself up. He forced his eyes open blearily. The room was dark with only a single redstone torch to light it up. Tommy rubbed his eyes as his blurry vision became more clear. He was trapped in what looked like a 4x4 obsidian block cell with no exit. He wasn’t alone. On the other side of his cell, was an eerily familiar man wearing a red sweater. Before he could think about it too hard, a wave of nausea hit him and he collapsed to the floor, gripping his stomach.

The third time he regained consciousness, his head felt the clearest it had in what felt like days. This time he could clearly see the man sitting on the other wall. His shaggy brownish-blonde hair cast a shadow over his piercing dark brown eyes that eyed him up now that he was awake. Tommy exhaled and returned the suspicious stare the stranger sent his way.

Just before one of them could break the tense silence, the wall to his left collapsed and revealed two enchanted diamond-clad men with wickedly sharp diamond weapons. Tommy flinched when he had heard the pistons go off while the red sweater -he was just gonna call him Red- just looked up with an annoyed expression. 

One of the men pointed at the adjacent wall. “Stand up and put your hands on the wall. No sudden movements or else,” he warned with a sadistic gleam in his eye that unnerved Tommy. His partner just rolled his eyes. “Who the fuck do you think you are?!” Tommy demanded, shooting up to his feet only to meet the sharp end of the sword by the sadistic guard.

“Don’t make me tell you twice,” he warned gleefully. Red was facing the wall, although Tommy could tell he wasn’t happy about it either. With a warning poke on his chest from the sword, Tommy reluctantly faced the wall.

Tommy watched the calmer guard frisk Red and open his inventory forcefully with a clearly tampered communicator. “He’s clean,” the calm guard stated, closing the inventory. The second Tommy felt a rough hand grab his shoulder, he exploded with rage. “Get your fucking hands off of me!” Tommy snarled as he turned around to face the insane sadistic guard and attempted to punch him.

Tommy’s fist bounced off the chestplate and inflicted damage due to its thorns properties. He winced at the cuts on his knuckles before the sadistic guard tackled him to the ground. Tommy let out a string of curses and slurs that would have gotten him grounded for decades had his parents overheard him.

“Brat,” the sadistic guard hissed, pinning Tommy down with his legs. The guard forced his jaw open and grabbed his tongue. “Perhaps cutting off your tongue would teach you some manners.” Tommy’s eyes widened as all of his anger drained away into fear. He heard the calm guard let out a deep sigh as if this was a common occurrence. “I’m not covering for your ass if you get in trouble for this. The boss will kill us if he gets injured,” the calm guard warned. “Oh please,” the sadistic guard retorted, pressing his sword down over the muscle. “I doubt he’d mind if we rough him up just a little.” Due to its sharpness enchant, it cut pretty deep despite the man not pressing down as hard as he could. Tommy could taste blood as it dripped out of his mouth and onto the floor. 

Before the calm guard could say anything, a blur of red tackled the sadistic guard off of him. Tommy’s eyes widened as he scrambled away as Red wrestled the sadistic guard to the ground. Red pulled the sadistic guard’s chestplate up before slamming him down so hard that his helmet cracked. The calm guard ran toward Red with his sword yet Red somehow had the reaction time to grab the sadistic guard’s helmet and chuck it at the calm guard. The helmet hit him square in the face and caused him to fall on his back. Red shot up to his feet and dashed right out of the cell and into the hallway.

This all happened in seconds, and before Tommy could come to his senses and follow him, the calm guard pinned him to the ground. The calm guard was swearing under his breath as he brought his communicator up to his mouth. “We got a runner in the right-wing cell block. He’s headed toward the exit,” he reported into his communicator as Tommy spat out congregating blood in his mouth.

The calm guard pitifully glanced down at Tommy. “We could use a health pot down here as well,” he added on. Tommy could hear shouts and different sounds of boots throughout the base as Red gave them a run for their money. Another guard poked her head through the doorway and tossed the calm guard a health potion. To Tommy’s surprise, the guard gave him the potion.

“I wouldn’t drink all of it in one go, not everyone is as understanding over attempts at breaking out like me,” the calm guard warned, as he used his communicator to scan Tommy’s empty inventory before getting off of him. He walked over to the unconscious sadistic guard and heaved him over his shoulder. “Those potions are worth diamonds down here, especially since half of the guards are fucked up in the head like this bastard,” he added as he exited the cell.

The obsidian wall fell back into place, and the room was dark again, save for the redstone torch giving off little light. Tommy stared at the potion in his hands before carefully uncorking the top. He took the guard’s warning to heart and only took a few drops, leaving the substance to sit in his mouth to let the magical properties do their work. 

It definitely wouldn’t be as instantaneous as a full potion, but Tommy figured he wasn’t in a rush. His tongue grew numb as the substance stitched the muscle back together. It would scar because of the slow process. Tommy couldn’t help but wonder what it would look like as he ignored the emptiness in his stomach. He wasn’t hungry per se, so that told him his health had taken a beating and he needed to eat to kick in the natural regeneration players had. 

**/ / / / / / / / / /**

“Stand up and put your hands on the wall. No sudden movements or else.”

This wasn’t Grian’s first time tangling with factions from the Outer Square. In fact, Grian had lived out here lawless and alone before he had settled down with a build team in the Inner Square. But that was centuries ago, back when the Outer Square factions were just starting out. This wasn’t his first time out here, nor was it his first time in a prison run by enemy factions. But usually, it was because he was a prisoner of war. Not because he was worth money.

“Who the fuck do you think you are?!”

That kid was going to get himself killed. A bright blue-eyed blonde teen with a red and white t-shirt and tan cargo pants who had clearly never left the Inner Square or even his home server in his entire life. Grian glared at the sadistic guard that threatened the kid.

That kid didn’t know the ropes, he didn’t understand the culture. Out here, respect was given, no matter how fucked up in the head you were or acted. But you don’t cower the second the odds aren’t in your favor. It was a tedious balance that could only truly be learned through trial and error. But down here was the last place the kid should test the dangerous waters.

Grian eyed the calm guard warily as he placed his hands against the wall, ignoring the prickling sensation of his exposed back. He hoped the kid would follow his example and not die from his stubborn attitude. He was relieved to see the kid copy him, and sent a warning glare toward the sadistic guard, hoping to goad him into a confrontation so he would frisk him instead of the kid.

Unluckily, the clearly sane and bored guard calmly frisked him instead. Grian watched as his empty inventory was shown to the world via a hacked communicator before the calm guard stepped away.

“He’s clean.”

Of course, he was. They even took his communicator off of him. Fat chance it would help any of them though. The GPS feature only worked in the Inner Square. Something about the signals being too weak out here due to the anarchy and big ruins out in the Outer Square, interfering. Mumbo would probably know more about it than him.

“Get your fucking hands off of me!”

Grian internally facepalmed. That kid was going to get himself killed. The kid threw a punch at the sadistic guard’s chestplate (is he an idiot?) and recoiled from the pain of the thorn’s enchantment. In seconds he had the kid pinned down with his sword hovering over his face. Grian couldn’t really tell what the sadist was doing until he heard the threat.

“Perhaps cutting off your tongue would teach you some manners.”

Now Grian was having a moral dilemma. Will he help the kid and risk his own hide, or will he bide for time and escape quicker and probably easier? The kid reminded him of his younger self, swears and everything. If he escaped and teleported back into the Inner Square alone, he’d never forgive himself for leaving the kid here to die. They’d kill him for his permanent silence. But he can’t teleport anyone besides himself. He’d be out here longer.

Ah, screw it.

Grian elbowed the calm guard in the face before tackling the sadistic guard off of the kid. The guard grabbed Grian’s sweater but the dark blonde didn’t give the guard a chance to retaliate any further. He grabbed the chestplate and slammed his body down so hard that his diamond helmet cracked. Grian heard the swish of a sword and instinctively grabbed the helmet off of the unconscious sadistic guard before chucking it at the calm guard.

The helmet hit the calm guard in the face and he fell on his back in a seeming daze. Grian didn’t hesitate. This was his chance to find the exit and try to escape. He dashed out of the cell and headed left, instinctively knowing that heading right would simply lead to a dead end. 

Grian could hear the distant pounding of multiple footsteps and angry/panicked voices. As he ran past the less guarded cells that only had iron bars and doors instead of obsidian, he could hear the prisoners hoot and holler and cheer for his escape. Grian couldn’t hide his grin as he raced past them. It was just like old times.

The first guard that Grian came across didn’t even register his approaching presence until Grian stole his diamond sword right out of his own hand. Grian laughed mockingly as he leaned out of the way of a weakness arrow aimed right at his head. More shouts joined the guard he stole as they chased him through the Faction base.

Grian ran past the armory and a few living quarters before he ran across another group of guards. This time, he wouldn’t be able to simply barrel past them. They readied their swords and one of them loaded his crossbow. They were clearly expecting him to slash one down in an attempt to run past. 

Instead, Grian simply jumped onto the right wall of the hallway and bounced off of it, landing behind them without a single scratch on either of them. A couple of shouts of surprise as well as grunts of anger when the initial group barreled through them. Sure enough, Grian could hear the clang of metal as part of the initial group began to fight the second one. As unified as some of these anarchist factions could be, for example, 2b2t, infighting was very common.

Grian raced around another corner before stopping dead in his tracks. Sure enough, the exit was right there, unguarded. He could smell the fresh air and he could see the bright blue sky. For a moment, he hesitated. He could easily escape now, and he had a weapon to get him by on the off chance he ran into a group of hackers. On the other hand, the kid was still trapped.

He was already this far in, he wasn’t gonna back out now. Looking around him, he could see a few iron doors with leavers attached beside them. The pounding footsteps of his pursuers, after finally resolving their little spat, were coming ever closer. With practice ease, Grian used his sword to break the lever off of the door and into his inventory before he started to run again. The natural light disappeared the further down the hallway he ran until it disappeared from his sight completely.

A few more twists and turns and Grian stumbled upon another vault and more living quarters. This time, at least ten players were chilling in a single area, and with the guards chasing him from behind, he was boxed in. Grian let out an annoyed huff as he readied his sword once the new group noticed him and charged.

He whacked the back of a young teen’s head with the blunt side of the sword, before parrying the sword of an older man. Someone punched his lower jaw but Grian simply spat in their direction. He tripped another and punched the older man in retaliation but quickly grew overwhelmed. The area was small, he was surrounded by at least fifteen people. He was outmatched compared to their enchanted diamond armor and weapons. 

They quickly subdued him and took away his sword, unaware of the lever still hidden in his inventory.

**/ / / / / / / / / /**

It felt like hours to Tommy before the obsidian wall fell. His tongue was achy instead of numb but at least it wasn’t bleeding anymore! Tommy blinked in surprise as he watched two guards drag the half-conscious Red through the door before dropping him like a sack of potatoes. The wall closed and left them in dim darkness.

For a second, Tommy thought Red was unconscious or even dead, but the man managed to sit up. He looked like shit to put it nicely. His jaw was bruised and he had dried blood dribbling down his mouth, and that’s what Tommy could visibly see.

“You are an idiot, you know that?” A familiar British voice grumbled as Red glared at him with his dark brown eyes. “Trying to antagonize a less than sane guard, are you trying to get maimed?” Tommy could compare Red’s anger to Philza’s and MotherInnit’s tone when they scolded him for his poorer choices in life. But this scolding reminded him more of Wilbur after he crossed a boundary, which both pissed him off and made him sad.

Red let out an annoyed huff before softening his gaze. “Are you at least okay?” He asked gently, catching Tommy off guard. “I think so,” Tommy managed to say, drumming his fingers nervously over the obsidian. His tongue still hurt and he was afraid of tearing the cut open again by speaking.

“What’s your name?” Red prodded. Tommy was slightly annoyed at the questions, not wanting to tear his cut open and waste the health potion generously given to him by a kinder guard, but the question was warranted to be fair. Red practically tackled the guard who tried to cut off his tongue and almost caused a prison break which was kind of cool. Tommy owed him a few answers at least.

“Tommy,” Tommy replied, sticking his tongue out and pointing to it, hoping Red would understand. “Oh your tongue, I forgot about that,” Red replied, sounding a bit sheepish. “My name is Grian, its a shame we had to meet in such terrible circumstances though.” Tommy paled slightly. Out of everyone he could have embarrassed himself in front of, and almost died in front of, was the most famous builder in Minecraftia, even outside of YouTube. If he had a hammer on him, he would have whacked himself with it.

Realizing that he had kinda left Grian hanging, he nodded in reply. Grian chuckled, amusement glinting in his eyes. “Just some advice kid, most people living in the Outer Square are less than sane and have morals that would make the guard that tried to cut off your tongue look like a kind man.” Tommy swallowed. “Anyway,” Grian continued as if he hadn’t freaked Tommy out. “I have a plan but I’m gonna need to wait until I heal a bit more.”

Tommy hesitated before offering Grian the rest of his health potion. He had only taken a sip to heal his tongue and Grian sounded like he needed it more than he did. Grian let out an audible gasp eyeing Tommy uncertainly. “Are you sure? Your tongue could probably use more than a sip if you want it to heal faster.” Tommy rolled his eyes and took another small sip before handing Grian the rest of the potion.

“Thanks, Tommy,” Grian said earnestly. He calmly lifted his red sweater to reveal a really nasty bruise on his stomach that was already turning purple. Tommy winced as he watched Grian clench his fist as he dropped a few drops onto his skin before rubbing it in. Tommy watched in awe as the bruise slowly began to lose its color. Grian drank most of the potion, the bruise on his jaw also began to lose most of its color. Grian held out the remaining few drops of the potion before placing it into his inventory.

“Insurance you know, for if either of us gets injured again,” Grian commented, seeing Tommy’s confused expression after Grian didn’t drink the rest of the potion. “Although I doubt it’d do much for a nasty laceration or broken bone,” Grian muttered as an afterthought as he brushed his hand through his hair in what Tommy assumed was a nervous tick. 

Grian glanced back at him. “You should rest the best you can. I can wake you up when they bring food,” he offered with a soft smile. Tommy nodded in agreement as he leaned against the obsidian wall in an attempt to get comfortable. Despite not even waking up a few hours ago, today's events had exhausted him. He had almost died. He was almost permanently maimed. Had Grian not attacked the sadistic guard, he would have probably lost his tongue. He would have lost his ability to talk. 

That thought bothered him more than he would ever want to admit.

**/ / / / / / / / / /**

It had been a few days (at least he assumes it's been a few days) and they had done nothing but sit in a 4x4 box (Tommy was not claustrophobic but this was definitely pushing his limits) and wait for the measly food that came two times a day. They only got two raw potatoes or carrots each and Grian always gave Tommy his second piece, assuring the blonde teen that he didn’t need it. 

But my god was Tommy bored out of his mind. His tongue had kept any conversation with Grian brief and unfulfilling, but today he was feeling better. He could feel the scarred tissue on his tongue and knew that the probability of it tearing was quite low thanks to the potion a few days prior. He turned to look at Grian, who looked equally just as bored.

“So how did you get kidnapped?” Tommy casually asked Grian, who was staring at the obsidian ceiling. Grian raised an eyebrow as he glanced back at Tommy. “I got jumped by ten guys in a no weapon zone. I managed to kill one of them but the weakness potion got me. What about you?” Grian asked back, earning an embarrassed groan from Tommy. 

“I got angry at one of my server mates and decided to take a few days off. They jumped me in a park.” Tommy was very embarrassed that he had lost the fight, despite knowing the area and having a weapon on him. At least Grian had an excuse and went down fighting. He even managed to kill one of them without a weapon, which Tommy admired quite a bit.

“Eh,” Grian replied as he sat up with a comforting smile. “Sometimes people get the jump on us. At least we’re not dead!” Yet. That word was left unsaid. Tommy was honestly relieved that Grian could be the serious and mature one in their situation. It didn’t match his YouTuber personality but who was Tommy to judge? He himself was a lot calmer off stream, although he was just as chaotic. He couldn’t wait to get out of here and brag to the others that he had met Grian. Technoblade would be so jealous.

Grian’s head shot up as he stared at the obsidian wall door with a serious expression. That was another thing that caught Tommy off guard. Grian was clearly a hybrid, but Tommy couldn’t tell what he was and he didn’t have the nerves to ask. He had no visible features like Techno’s tusks and ears and Skeppys blue skin. He wasn’t fully anthropomorphic like Fundy and he didn’t seem to hide his features like Philza (Philza could only last a few hours before he had to release his wings). But regardless of whatever Grian was, he could clearly hear people on the other side of the wall.

Tommy had no idea what he was up to, but he had a suspicion that it had to do with the lever Grian had snatched when he had initially escaped. The only reason he knew about its existence was that Grian had pulled it out of his inventory and started playing with it out of sheer boredom. “Are you feeling up for a little escape attempt Tommy?” Grian asked out of the blue, slightly startling the teen. Tommy smirked in anticipation.

“I am so ready to get the fuck out of here,” Tommy agreed, ignoring the small language warning that Grian replied back with. “For the past few days, I’ve been monitoring their guard checks. I’ve noticed that they have five to ten-minute intervals before the guard's return.” Grian took out his lever and began to slowly drag his hand over the obsidian floor. 

“Mumbo taught me a little trick with redstone. Basically, you can feel its power if it’s activated, and these fools have the lever on to close the door. That was the main reason I escaped the first time; it was to get a lever. Had we tried to run together, they would of likely split us up,” Grian said smugly. Tommy nodded agreeably, pretending to understand the redstone part. Grian carefully placed down the lever and flicked it.

The obsidian door fell away to reveal no guard nor wandering faction members. “Stay close, don’t speak. Let’s get out of here,” Grian ordered as he walked down the hall. Tommy followed close behind him. 

Tommy hung close to Grian like a shadow. As they passed other prisoners, they didn’t hoot and holler like they had done when Grian had previously escaped. To Tommy’s absolute befuddlement, they didn’t even beg for the duo to let them out. Most of them had impressed looks while others nodded toward them as if wishing them good luck. Grian didn’t seem surprised, at least outwardly so. Instead, he picked up his pace and Tommy scrambled to keep up. 

When they rounded a corner, Grian held his hand out, stopping Tommy in his tracks. Ahead of them, was a singular faction member guarding the armory. With a warning glare from Grian, the builder silently slunk towards the guard and grabbed her by her chestplate before slamming her against the wall. As she crumpled to the ground unconscious, Grian motioned to the armory as he dragged her into the room.

Tommy didn’t know what he was expecting when entering a hacker armory but he wasn’t expecting it to be this… barren.

The room was filled with chests full of redstone, TNT, crystals: basically, a griefers dream come true. The factions emblem, which looked like a horizontal diamond with a skull in the middle, hung above the middle chests. Overall there was a noticeable lack of actual armor and tools that one would expect to be in an actual armory. Grian didn’t look that surprised. He left the girl on the ground after stealing her sword and rummaged through the redstone chests.

“Here’s the plan Tommy,” Grian started as he dug around the chest. “I’m gonna set a redstone timer down for two minutes so we should be out of the blast radius before then. The blast will knock out the redstone to the prison and release the other prisoners so while those two sides fight, we escape,” and with that, Grian began to lay down redstone.

Tommy raised an eyebrow. “Aren’t you notoriously bad at redstone?” He joked. Grian laughed at that one. “Easy circuits like these don’t give me too much trouble. Farms on the other hand,” Grian trailed off as he laid the redstone trail in a way that was foreign to Tommy. “And the guard?” 

Grian looked up. “What about her?”

“You were just gonna leave her?”

“It’s either her or us Tommy, either way, she’s dead weight and wants to kill us.”

“The blast would kill her!”

“Keep your voice down. If it makes you feel better, we can leave her outside and hope that the obsidian walls protect her,” Grian snapped back. This overall didn’t sit well with Tommy at all, but there was no use arguing with the man that clearly knew more about this area of Minecraftia than he did. 

“That sounds like something Technoblade would say,” Tommy grumbled under his breathe as he conceded. Grian snorted as he placed a redstone torch. As the redstone torch activated the redstone trail, Grian grabbed the unconscious guard and dragged her unceremoniously out of the armory.

“And now we run kid.” And with that, Grian took off like a bullet. Tommy wasn’t expecting it, but his height allowed him to catch up. They ran past faction members and other guards without much difficulty. Well, no difficulty for Tommy. Because Grian was ahead of him by a few blocks, Grian simply caught the attention of the guards first and as they scrambled to corner him, they unintentionally let Tommy easily slip by them.

Despite expecting the blast, Tommy still stumbled when the ground rumbled. Blocks fell from the ceiling and Grian almost tripped over the debris in an effort to dodge it. A lot of yelling flowed through the halls, and sounds of fighting grew apparent. Just like Grian predicted, people were turning on one another. 

One guard was knocked unconscious from falling debris and Grian actually stopped to loot the body. He only had access to their toolbar it seemed, as he only took a sword, axe, pickaxe, steak, and flint and steel before Grian ushered Tommy to continue running. 

Unfortunately, three guards were guarding the exit. Grian slowed down and tossed Tommy the second sword. “Back me up!” Grian yelled as he launched himself at the group with a sword and axe in hand.

Tommy watched in awe as Grian’s axe cracked the diamond chestplate while his sword parried the sword of the other guard. He had little time to watch further as he attacked the third guard. That guard parried and attempted a jab, but small lessons from Techno had Tommy dodging it and returning the favor.

Then out of nowhere, the guard collapsed to the ground. Grian pulled his bloody axe out of his helmet with ease and ran out of their prison.

And just like that, they were free. The sun was almost too bright for Tommy and he had to squint in an attempt to see but he could feel the winter sun warm his body. Grian raised his hand in an attempt to block out the sun but dropped it in shock. Tommy turned to look where Grian was staring before feeling shocked himself.

“Is that a fucking mountain?!” Tommy demanded as he stared at what looked like a natural wall jetting up from the earth. Grian glanced behind him back toward the faction base they had escaped from and grabbed Tommy’s wrist. “Head for the mountains!” Grian ordered as a group of hackers started to ascend toward the exit. 

Tommy ran for his life. Despite being taller, Grian was a lot faster than him and Tommy could tell that the builder was actively slowing down just so Tommy could keep up. Tommy could hear the yells and jeers from the pursuing faction and pushed himself to run faster.

About a hundred blocks ahead, Tommy spotted a visible bedrock line that separated the two biomes. How bedrock even spawned above ground did not matter to Tommy as he sprinted to the visible border.

“Pass the border and they probably won’t follow us,” Grian said in between huffs. Something about the border gave Tommy bad vibes but he did what Grian said and continued forward. Suddenly, he felt as if his entire nerves were set on lava. He turned around and noticed one of the hackers glowing blue. He could tell Grian could also feel the effects as he stumbled himself, but Tommy wasn’t expecting Grian to throw his sword like a knife. The sword landed in the glowing hacker’s chest and the effects disappeared immediately.

Despite his limbs feeling like jelly, Tommy managed to run across the bedrock border. The group of hackers stopped right at the border and watched the duo disappear into the trees of a roofed forest. 

“What the fuck was that?” Tommy demanded as stopped to rest, but Grian grabbed him by the arm. “That's a killing aura hack. Had he been ten blocks closer, we would have been incapacitated from pain.” Tommy tried to rip his arm out of Grian’s hold but the builder had an iron grip.

“We can’t stop, we aren’t safe out here,” Grian insisted as he jogged toward the mountains. Tommy loped behind him. “But they aren’t chasing us Grian, we’re safe!” Tommy argued, only to falter seeing Grian’s distressed expression. 

Grian let out what sounded like a strangled laugh to the teen. “Tommy we aren’t safe! We may have escaped the wrath of the faction group we escaped from, but we are at the mercy of the Far Lands. We are 12.8 million blocks away from Mojang’s Capital!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, their problems are only just beginning! I'm excited.


	3. Learning The Ropes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tommy and Grian learn to get along and Tommy learns the valuable lesson of not treating the FarLands like he would a server.

Grian didn’t want to scare Tommy. But to be truthful, their situation was very bleak. Although maybe he shouldn’t have told Tommy how bad it truly was. The kid didn’t react well at all when he learned how far away they truly were from home. To be fair, Grian was barely handling it any better. 

In the past, he was either surrounded by two very good friends who knew the region’s culture and his fighting style or he traveled alone. As of now, he was stuck with a kid who was clearly an idiot if he thought punching a man in diamond armor would get him anywhere.

The Third Generation was a little too coddled by their predecessors in his opinion.

“We’re lost aren’t we?” Tommy asked as he struggled to keep up with Grian’s faster pace. Despite their height difference, Grian was doing a lot better than the lanky teen. For one, he wasn’t about to drop dead after only walking a few hundred blocks. “Tommy I assure you we aren’t lost. We are heading for the outer reaches of the FarLands,” Grian reassured for what felt like the tenth time since they lost their pursuers.

Grian could practically hear the unease in Tommy’s voice. “I’ll be honest with you Grian, I was a shit student when I went to school. But I am pretty sure my teacher mentioned that the FarLands are so fatal that not even admins with command blocks venture there,” Tommy grumbled as he quickened his pace to walk beside the builder. “Is that what they’re telling you these days?” Grian asked, even more, amused after seeing Tommy’s disbelieving face. Surely the kid thought of him insane at this point. 

“The only reasons why Admins and hackers fear this part of the land is because its properties inhibit whatever magic is used to control command blocks and our wrist-held communicators,” Grian corrected with a small smile. “The only use communicators have out here is to tell a player the time and the cords.” Tommy looked like he was on the verge of having a breakdown but not. Grian couldn’t tell what that emotion was. Instead, he trudged forward.

“Traveling out here is so dangerous in fact, that no one knows what lays beyond the mountainous walls of the Beyond. But I’ve been out here twice,” Grian added in an attempt to soothe Tommy’s fears. Tommy blinked in faint surprise as he met Grian’s eyes. “So you know how to survive out here?” Tommy questioned earning an amused snicker from the builder. “Well, I can tell you we’re in no current danger of a sudden freeze due to how bright the green leaves are on the trees.

Tommy glanced at the tree leaves, in faint confusion at the seemingly tangent part of their conversation. “FarLand freezes are deadly and unpredictable. I’d like to make us a house far far away from the bedrock border before then,” Grian clarified as he picked up the pace. Tommy let out an angry huff as he struggled to keep up. 

Grian sighed. At this rate, they wouldn’t be home till the new year.

**/ / / / / / / / / /**

Tommy hasn’t been doing the YouTube/Twitch business for long with famous creators, but he has seen enough to know that personalities on camera often differed from those behind closed doors. 

Yet Grian still surprised him.

Perhaps he would have acted differently in a less deadly environment. But the man was so closed off and cold that it starked contrastingly against his happy and crafty behavior on the Tube. He was an enigma, one Tommy wished Tubbo was here to help him crack. Thinking of his best friend made him sad, as the last time he saw the brunette, he had left him in a huff due to Skeppy’s antics.

He never even said goodbye.

“We’ll stop here for now.” Tommy looked up in surprise as Grian broke his train of thoughts. They had stopped by a river. Grian was on his knees, using his hands to drink from the stream. Tommy hesitantly joined him, the cold water down his throat invigorating his tired body. 

“We can’t stay here for the night, lest some Drowned sneak up on us,” Grian mumbled. Tommy couldn’t tell if the builder was talking to himself. “We’ll walk till dusk and then sleep in the trees for the night,” Grian continued, standing back up and stretching his legs. Just the thought of walking made Tommy want to collapse.

As much as he wanted to complain, he didn’t want to risk Grian leaving him. So with one more sip from the stream, he stood back up and waited for Grian to continue leading him towards the FarLand mountains.

For a split second, Tommy could have sworn Grian winced at his admittedly pathetic state. “I know it’s tough, but we gotta keep our distance from the faction. It’ll get easier the longer you work at your endurance,” Grian assured him. Grian gently pats his shoulder before leading the teen away from the river, at a much slower pace.

As kind as the gesture was, by the time Grian decided to stop for the night, Tommy was about to collapse from exhaustion. Grian turned to him. “Mobs don’t roam on trees, aside from the occasional spider. We’ll sleep in the canopy.” Tommy’s face must have said a lot because Grian began to laugh at him.

“Trust me, Tommy, you’ll be fine. I’ll give you a boost up.” Grian cradled his hands together, and using the makeshift foothold, Tommy pulled himself up the branch. He was kind of curious how Grian would get himself up, as the builder had no blocks and was shorter in stature. Grian backed up before running towards the tree, kicking off of the trunk, and pulled himself up onto the branch adjacent to Tommy. Show off.

Grian cracked a grin. “See, building does have its upsides,” he joked as he settled down onto his side of the tree. So he gets his strength from collecting and placing blocks all day? Tommy snorted as he leaned against the trunk and watched the sun dip below the horizon. 

Grian wordlessly handed him a piece of steak he stole off of one of the faction members earlier that day. Tommy would usually wolf down any of his food, but he could imagine Philza scolding him for wasting limited food in a harsh environment. Instead, the teen nibbled on the steak, intending to eat enough to sate his stomach enough to sleep and eat the rest in the morning.

“I have thirteen pieces of steak left,” Grian assured the teen as if he could tell what Tommy was thinking. “If we ration it out to one or two pieces a day, we have enough time to scavenge and hunt.”

“But we could run into some issues,” Tommy protested, twisting his body to glare at Grian. Grian raised an eyebrow. “You should leave that worry to me, Tommy. For someone who punched a diamond-clad player, you sure seem to have some sort of survival instinct,” Grian mused, earning a growl from Tommy. That bastard. “I was angry,” he half-heartedly argued.

“Anger will get you killed out here,” Grian said with such certainty that Tommy couldn’t find any words to retaliate. He scoffed and silently admitted defeat as he tried to get comfortable on the branch. Well, as comfortable as he could get. “Are you taking the first watch or am I?” Grian asked softly.

“Can you?”

“I can.”

Tommy sighed as he tried his best to block out the natural call of the woods in an attempt to sleep. He fell asleep, thinking about the melody of one of Wilbur’s songs, and put it on repeat.

**/ / / / /**

“Tommy.”

Tommy blearily rose his head. He could see Grian’s shadowy form outlined by the light of the moon that was now beginning to set. Grian let him sleep for a lot longer than he thought he would. “Did you let me sleep in?” He groggily asked. Grian shook his head. “I don’t need to sleep for as long as you do. Wake me up if you have any problems.”

With that, Grian nodded off. Tommy rubbed his eyes and looked to the ground to see the glossy sheen of zombie flesh just laying on the ground. Grian reminded Tommy a lot of Technoblade. Both of them would stay up and fight the mobs just so others could sleep. Like Technoblade, Tommy would have to make sure the idiot builder would share the night watch equally lest he grow exhausted and kill them both.

Tommy looked up through the canopy. The pros of living out here were low and few between, but the night sky was one of them. Without the light pollution from the major cities to keep the mobs away, the sky itself seemed to come to life. There were so many stars and the black sky had swirls of purple, blue and red, like transparent clouds beyond the stars.

To put it simply, it was beautiful.

The night sky reminded him of Philza’s custom hardcore world and he couldn’t help but wonder if the older player had used the night sky out here as his inspiration. He would definitely have to ask the old man if when he came back.

If the night sky always looked like this, he wouldn’t mind taking the later shift. If only just to watch the stars follow the moon below the horizon as the early signs of dawn cast its light upon the land.

**/ / / / /**

After a few days of the repeated cycle, Tommy could finally see detail on the mountains that reached the highest point in the sky. He couldn’t really call them mountains. It was as if some god raised the earth to the human build limit to keep them all trapped in the valley. Aside from the occasional hole that leads to a network of caves (according to Grian), the top was completely flat.

When they were only a few hundred blocks away from the FarLand mountains, Grian simply stopped. Tommy was confused about why they were stopping in a seemingly normal biome. It was only a forest biome with flat terrain and a pond to his right. Grian hummed to himself as he poked around the area before looking up at Tommy.

“Think this is a good spot to camp for a few weeks?” Grian asked with a wave. Tommy didn’t know why he bothered asking. He wasn’t the builder here. “I guess,” Tommy replied as he looked around for any caves. Those would be death traps, for both of them. Tommy had heard of the rumors of the highly hostile mobs out in the FarLand’s. Some even claimed they were intelligent. He didn’t want to ask Grian and come off as an idiot.

“We have a water source that is shallow enough to where drowned can’t come and visit us and the terrain is flat enough to build quickly without much terraforming,” Grian commented before looking up at the mountains. “Not to mention, we’re so close to the Beyond that no hacker will bother coming out here without risking the loss of their hacks,” Grian added with a confident smile. Tommy could only wish he could feel Grian’s confidence right now.

Grian’s brows furrowed before he tossed Tommy a diamond pickaxe. The teen barely caught it and sent an annoyed glare his way. “That’s what those mountains are called? Also thanks for the warning dickhead,” Tommy growled. “Watch your mouth,” Grian warned all traces of his earlier good mood gone. 

“To answer your question, they don’t technically have a name. They’re usually just called the FarLand’s,” Grian sighed. “But the land below the mountains is affected by its anomalous properties for about 50,000 blocks at some points so to avoid confusion, I just like to refer to the mountainous area as the Beyond. It’s called the Beyond because once you start traveling on the mountains, you can’t see anything else but stone with the occasional cave entrance. No one has ever survived to tell anyone if there is a land beyond the Beyond due to the thin air and cold temperatures,” he clarified with a dark look.

Okay so no to traveling on the big mountains. Tommy thoughtfully looked back at the Beyond before staring at the pickaxe Grian had tossed him moments earlier. “So what do you want me to do with this?” He questioned as he gestured to the pick in his hands. “Well while I mine wood and clear the area for a house,” Grian started with a look that Tommy did not like. “You get to dig down to y11 and get us cobble and other ores.” 

Tommy could only stare at him. He wasn’t exactly happy with this setup, and mining without a communicator sounded like a death wish. “How the fuck am I supposed to mine without a communicator? I can only carry so much,” Tommy protested, ignoring the glare from the use of a swear. “You dig down to bedrock and then build back up 5-6 blocks and you can leave the ores at the bottom of the stairs to carry later,” Grian replied as if it made perfect sense to create a strip mine in the FarLands. 

“Cobble is more important though. I want a stable foundation for the rustic house I have in mind,” Grian added, handing Tommy a stack of redstone torches. “Redstone torches can last for years while normal torches go out in days. Come back up to the surface when you manage to dig down to Y11 and I’ll give you some wood to make more,” Grian continued before hefting the diamond axe onto his shoulder and walking away. Tommy glared at his retreating form, feeling slightly resentful for the more laborious job.

He couldn’t read the enchantments on the pickaxe without a communicator, but he could only hope for a high-efficiency rate as well as a high fortune enchantment to make his life easier. As he swung the pickaxe into the dirt, he could only quietly curse the builder for not giving him a shovel to work with.

**/ / / / /**

That night, Tommy barely had any strength to pull himself into the canopy. Not even training with Technoblade left him with the soreness in his arms that he was feeling. Grian silently handed him an apple, and Tommy took it with little complaint. He was simply too tired to care. He had dug in a straight line for hours and hauled up cobblestone with his limited inventory space for the house. God damn, he missed his communicator.

Thankfully, Grian was a fast builder, and Tommy could already see that the man had built the foundation and most of the walls of the first floor. It looks like they won’t be spending much more time up here in the canopy, as Tommy was doubtful that Grian would make a second floor. 

“How’s the building going?” Tommy asked, softly, itching for a conversation to fill the silence. Out of all of his friends, he was never particularly good with long stretches of silence. “It’s going good,” Grian trailed off. “How’re your arms?” The builder asked back. 

“Sore.” Tommy’s response was short and conveyed his feelings perfectly. He could hear the visible wince in Grian’s voice. “It’ll help you gain more muscle and upper body strength in the long run if that makes you feel any better.” It didn’t, but Grian didn’t give him a chance to shoot a petty response in return.

“Anyways, I have a couple of plans in mind for the time we will be hunkering down here,” Grian said cheerfully, changing the subject. Tommy bit into his apple and let the builder lead the conversation. “After the house, I want to set up some traps for mobs to fall into. If you’re interested, I can teach you?” The thought of not having to mine was very appealing. The thought of turning these traps onto the Dream SMP inhabitants even more so.

“I am all for fucking with things.” Tommy grinned hearing Grian’s amused/exasperated snort in response. “I’m starting to think you are a child,” was Grian’s response, earning an annoyed squawk from Tommy, who was half tempted to throw the core of his apple right at Grian’s face. “Excuse me mister King of Builder’s but I am the biggest man in the world,” Tommy gloated with pride. Not everyone lived on the Dream SMP after all.

“Hmmmmm,” Grian hummed as he played along. Tommy started wheezing as he watched Grian stroke his fake beard in thoughtfulness. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard of you big man,” Grian jokingly jabbed, earning a mock hurt from Tommy. “That is The Biggest Man to you Grian,” Tommy demanded with a sly grin. “You think you’re so big by being affiliated with Hermitcraft. Well, I’ll have you know that I come from the Dream SMP.”

“The same guy I pummeled in MCC?” Grian asked cheekily. Tommy could clearly remember that. The famous clip showed Grian branching off from his team in survival games and forcing Dream into a corner while using the cornfield to his advantage. Dream was a little embarrassed to get out so early, by a builder no less. Watching George and Sapnap take the piss out of him over it was the highlight of that week.

“Anyone could take out the green man if they tried,” Tommy agreed, earning a giggle from Grian. “Well if you are truly from the Dream SMP, then I can’t call you Biggest Man,” Grian declared, earning an annoyed whine from Tommy. “But why?” Tommy asked, drawling out the why to be as annoyingly endearing as possible.

“Because only the biggest man on the server could have a server named after themselves,” Grian teased, earning a scoff from Tommy. “I’ll have you know only self-centered assholes name things after themselves and I totally defeated Dream for my country's independence,” Tommy declared proudly.

“Did you win the duel?”

Tommy flipped Grian off in response earning an annoyed “Ay!” that was oddly reminiscent of BadBoyHalo. 

Tommy lost all his initial fears of not getting along with Grian that evening. He was so going to rub it in everyone’s faces that he made a friend out of Grian  if when he got back home.

**/ / / / / / / / / /**

Despite getting along oddly well, they had their struggles. Tommy was headstrong and stubborn, often arguing with Grian over tasks. Especially if they didn’t make sense. Mining was the main issue. Tommy didn’t see the need to mine for so much cobble and resources. Most of the cobble was left in the mines anyway, and Tommy didn’t see the need to mine for diamonds if they were truly as sparse as Grian claimed they were in the FarLands. 

They both had iron armor, although, in Tommy’s opinion, they wouldn’t survive against hackers without forged diamond or netherite armor. Hand-made gear is always superior to the stuff you can craft from the crafting table, so Tommy had no clue why Grian was so adamant about wanting to build a special forge. If Grian’s claims of knowing how to forge custom weapons and tools were true then he should know that it’s possible to forge iron armor using a furnace and an anvil. 

That wasn’t the only thing driving him mad. He didn’t mind Grian taking the leadership role (he was honestly thankful for it), but he didn’t like doing the mindless chores that he was asked to do. He could only mine, chop wood into planks, and farm the ground to plant wild wheat for so long before he grew impatient. Grian often adventured beyond the rustic house he had built, setting up elaborate traps while hunting wild cows and pigs. 

It felt unfair, and Tommy was close to his breaking point over it. A small part of him understood that Grian probably knew how to survive out here a lot better than he did, and while these chores could be physically laborious, they were a lot safer than venturing beyond the lit-up clearing. 

The other part of him, the more impulsive and childish part of him, wanted to stab shit.

So when Grian asked him to take care of the farm, they got into a pretty nasty stalemate. Tommy venomously refused to farm. Grian looked like he was about to threaten him into compliance.

“For fucks sake Grian, I am sick and tired of doing these mundane chores! Let me go hunting or some shit.”

“You’d get lost the second you got fifty blocks away.”

Technoblade and Vikstar would agree. That just pissed Tommy off more.

“I would not venture that far! And I’ll have you know I’d easily make it back if I were to travel only fifty blocks.”

“When I asked you where North was, you told me it was down.”

“It is down!”

“If you can’t even tell me the basic cardinal directions then I am not letting you roam the FarLands alone.”

That pissed him off. Tommy knew that his anger often led to a loss of rationality. This argument would be no exception.

“Fuck you! I bet you don’t even know anything about the FarLands given that you don’t seem to know that you can custom-craft iron armor without a fancy forge!”

Tommy could have sworn that Grian’s angry eyes flashed a dark purple for a second.

“Why would I waste my time on iron armor when given the chance, I will just forge diamond?”

“Hackers!”

“Comms and hacks don’t work out in the FarLand’s nor the Beyond.”

Tommy hated that he made a good point.

Grian let out an annoyed sigh and uncrossed his arms. 

“Tell you what, if you can shear a sheep, I will let you do what you want to do.”

Did this man take him as an idiot? Tommy felt insulted.

“Fuck you.”

“Is that a yes?”

It was a yes, and Tommy was totally going to mock Grian when he came back with wool.

**/ / / / /**

After Tommy had grabbed the shears from Grian, he wandered through the forest for a few hours. Of course, Grian didn’t let him venture alone, but the builder kept his distance. Tommy whistled Able Sisters under his breath as he looked around for sheep.

His feet were admittedly sore after walking around for a few hours (he was really fucking hating how Grian looked like he could walk for another 5 hours, despite flying to get around on Hermitcraft. In what world did that make sense?). He had seen a herd of cows and a single chicken but no sheep. 

He was tempted to give in, but the thought of proving Grian wrong invigorated his motivation to continue.

He almost cheered with joy when he found three sheep in an open clearing. He carefully approached the closest one. The sheep paused its grazing and eyed Tommy cautiously which should be impossible because it is a stupid sheep. Tommy did not like its stare but confidently continued.

Not wanting to startle the animal, Tommy slowly took out the shears and began to cut the wool. Faster than he could react, the sheep pulled away and headbutted him right in the stomach. Tommy flew back 5-6 blocks before landing on his butt, out of breath. The sheep lowered its head and angrily pawed the ground. Tommy braced for another charge.

A shrill whistle echoed in the clearing. Both Tommy and the sheep looked up to see Grian calmly leaning against a tree with his own shears in hand. The sheep paused and cautiously approached Grian, who brought out wheat and offered it to the animal. He calmly dropped the wheat onto the ground and as the sheep ate the rare treat, Grian snapped off the wool in three snips.

Tommy took a deep breath as he stared at Grian and the sheep in disbelief. Grian gently patted the sheep on the head before walking over to Tommy. Grian offered his hand and Tommy accepted it, graciously standing back up with the builder’s help.

Never had he felt so humiliated as he did right at that moment. A fucking sheep bested him, the great TommyInnit. Grian would never let him live it down.

“So,” Grian drawled with a mischievous look in his eyes. “Are we going up or down?

Tommy threw in the towel and let Grian lead them back to the house. Despite being in slight pain from the headbutt, Tommy refused to rest. By the time they reached the house, the day was almost over. Tommy collapsed beside the house in exhaustion, pain, and defeat.

Grian quietly sat beside him. They sat in uncomfortable silence for a while before Grian broke it. “It’s not that I think you are incapable or stupid. I think you could be very strong if given the right training Tommy,” Grian started, staring out into the forest.

“However, you can’t treat the FarLands like you would a server. This land is untamed. These animals are wild. You can’t just approach a sheep and expect it to let you farm its wool. The mobs in the FarLands are abnormally intelligent, which is why I go and hunt them during the day before they form a pack and overwhelm us.”

Tommy lowered his head in shame in disappointment. So the rumors were true. He should have been more cautious. 

“We can’t speedrun the FarLand’s in twenty minutes or so. We only have one life out here.”

Tommy shifted uneasily. It felt like he was getting scolded by his father or Wilbur.

“Survival takes time. I promise that once we grow stable, I’ll take you with me. It’ll be safer for the both of us to stick together out there anyways.”

That last bit ended in a more amused tone, which gave Tommy hope that Grian wasn’t as furious as he originally thought he was. 

“Tommy, look at me.”

Tommy looked up and met Grian’s eyes. He was expecting anger and even disappointment. He was not expecting the warmth and understanding in his calculated stare. 

“I was your age once. I learned through trial and error and only the Void knows how close I almost died each time. Let me teach you. Let’s work together as a team,” Grian offered, offering his hand.

“Promise you’ll take me with you when we grow more stable?” Tommy almost begged.

“I promise.”

Tommy accepted Grian’s hand. From that day on, Tommy followed Grian to the end, keeping most of his complaints to himself. They finally became a team.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, this was late. I was very lazy and struggled to write the middle section. Hopefully, updates should be once or twice a month from now on.

**Author's Note:**

> Confused about the world mechanics? There will be another book in the series explaining the world-building in more detail.
> 
> If anyone can leave a comment or dm me the plot and story of the Samgladiator series Yandere High, if you know it or watched it a long time ago, that would be great. Other than that comments and kudos are greatly appreciated.


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